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Snowdon Mountain Railway
Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR; Welsh:Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa) is a rack and pinion mountain railway located in Gwynedd,north-west Wales. It is a tourist railway that travels for 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdonia. NOTE:THIS PAGE WAS CREATED FOR MY LATEST SCHOOL PROJECT,WHERE YOU NEED TO TALK ABOUT A RAILWAY. Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR) The SMR is the only public and rack pinion railway in Great Britain. Opened in 1896,April 6,Monday,after 100 years of operation it still stands as a tourist attraction. 130,000 Passengers are carried often. The carriages are pushed up the mountain by either Steam or Diesel locomotives. It also had three diesel railcars and multiple units before. Reverend W. Awdry inspirated the Snowdon Mountain Railway in a book,known as a railway series of Thomas the Tank Engine. The railway is named Culdee Fell Railway and it is also a mountain railway. Culdee Fell Railway (CFR) The Culdee Fell was inspirated by the Snowdon Mountain Railway,as said before. It appeared in several books such as Bad Look Out and Danger Points. The Culdee fell engines are all 0-4-2T configuration and Culdee Fell has no diesel engines or Diesel Railcars. The Culdee Fell Railway can be accessed throught Kirk Machan,a station where the passengers can choose if they continue on the standard gauge,or the narrow gauge tracks. The Culdee Fell sheds are home and a resting place at night for the engines. Next to the shed,there are coach sheds where the main carriages are placed. Culdee Fell Landmarks: * Kirk Machan * Culdee Fell Sheds & Yards * Shiloh * Skarloey Road * Devil's Back * Culdee Fell Summit Snowdon Mountain Railway Landmarks * Llanberis (SMR) * Engine Sheds * Waterfall * Hebron * Halfway * Rocky Valley Halt * Clogwyn * Snowdon Summit Equipment As most Great Britain Railway,such as LNER,lots of steam engines are here. In the SMR,eight steam engines are operated. Some of the engines use coal,and water. Some of them are oil burners. Here are some pictures about them. The first picture contains a water tank near Llanberis,along with three local diesel engines in operation,taking passengers into the summit. On the second picture,you can see coaling equipment,which is Welsh Coal,used by 6 of the steam engines. The fireman uses a shovel to pack the coal into the firebox or the coal box,where either coal is burned or contained. The Rails As said before,the rails are rack and pinion,they are mostly designed for special engines parts,such as the automatic brake.A 'gripper' rails were also added in the accident of 1896. Here can you see the rails. The line is built to 800 mm gauge (2 ft 71⁄2 in gauge), a gauge it has in common with several other rack railways in Switzerland. The rails are fastened to steel sleepers. In the middle of the rails,there you can see which are lines for the special automatic brakes. The automatic brake gets triggered. Diesels use hydraulic cylinders,while steam engines are equipped with these automatic brakes. As you can see on the picture,the automatic brake is on the middle,which looks like a white gear. The rails' middle is based on it,so if going faster than 7km/h,the the automatic brake gets automatically triggered. The Culdee Fell Railway also uses this braking system. Requirement of work The company has owned a total of eight steam locomotives, five diesel locomotives and three diesel railcars. All the engines (except the diesel railcars) are 0-4-2T configuration. When the railway was being planned, only the Swiss had significant experience in building rack locomotives, so it was they who won the contract to build the engines for the line. The boilers of the locomotives are set at an angle of 9°, to keep the water level over the tubes when the locomotive is ascending the mountain. Built specially for the line in 1895 and 1896, Nos. 1 to 5 were manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works of Winterthur. The first locomotives cost £1,525 (equivalent to £158,861 in 2015).10 Nos. 1 to 3 were delivered before the line was open and used on construction work. On at least two occasions, trials have been made on oil burners on Nos. 1 to 5, the latest being on No. 2 in the late 1990s. For most of the time, the railway's steam locomotives have burnt coal. The requirement for the locomotives to have a hot fire burning efficiently for a solid hour has led to problems when best Welsh steam coal has not been readily available. During 1978 Nos. 2 and 8 ran with oil burners. To hold the fuel oil, a tank was fitted to the roof of each locomotive. The tanks were thin and followed the profile of the roof. In 2000, No. 2 was again fitted with an oil burner in an attempt avoid the increasing problems of obtaining suitable coal. Round Trip fuel costs: * Steam Engine:£51.00 * Diesel Engine:£3.05 Needed locomotive crew: * Steam Engine:2 * Diesel Engine:1 Round trips per day * Steam Engine:3 * Diesel Engine:4 List of Steam locomotives Here we arrived to the Steam locomotives. The list is located down below. L.A.D.A.S Built in Swiss Locomotive Railway Works. Named after Laura Alice Duff Assheton-Smith, wife of the major landowner in the area. It arrived at Llanberis in July 1895 and cost £1523. A race horse was also named Ladas and it is after the race horse that the LNER locomotive No. 2566 was named. Destroyed in an accident on the railway's opening day. L.A.D.A.S got never replaced and never repaired. Also none engine replaced her as No.1 Enid Named after Laura Alice's daughter, who cut the first sod in December 1894 in place of her mother, who was ill at the time. It arrived at Llanberis in August 1895 and cost £1,525. Enid is pronounced "Ennid". Wyddfa Arrived at Llanberis on 7 December 1895. Wyddfa (Welsh for "Snowdon") is the Snowdon Mountain Railway's No. 3 who works and shunts at Llanberis. Wyddfa was built at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1895. Wilfred is based on her. Snowdon Snowdon got withdrawn from service in 1900,along with a few engines for overhaul. It is rumored that she will return. Snowdon is the fourth engine on the Snowdon Mountain Railway. She was built at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1896 and is currently under an overhaul. Culdee is based on her. Moel Siabod Moel Siabod is named after a neighbouring mountain of the same name. Built specially for the Snowdon Mountain Railway in 1896, No. 5 was manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works of Winterthur, Switzerland. Moel Siabod was withdrawn from service in 2015 to endure extensive maintenance and rebuilding. She re-entered service in early 2017. Shane Dooiney is based off her. Padarn Padarn,named after the lower lake at Llanberis - but previously Sir Harmood, after the chairman of the Snowdon Mountain Railway, Sir John Sutherland Harmood Banner - is the sixth engine operating on the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Padarn was built at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1922. Patrick/Lord Harry is based off her. Ralph Dismantled and stored off-site. It is unlikely that this locomotive will be returned to service. Originally named Aylwin until October 1978 when it was renamed Ralph Sadler, later shortened to Ralph, after the company's consulting engineer between 1964 and 1977. Alaric is based off her. Eryri Eryri was built at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1923. As of 1992, Eryri has been withdrawn from service, her boiler has been scrapped, dismantled and stored off-site. It has been stated that it is very unlikely that the engine will be repaired and resume service. Eric is based on Eryri. List of Diesel locomotives Here can be found the list of Diesel Locomotives. The railway has 5 diesel engines. Unnamed Diesel Engine Bought second-hand from a quarry in 1972 as a potential shunter. Sold unused to the Llanberis Lake Railway in 1978. Since been dismantled and scrapped. Ninian Ninian is named after the Chairman at the time the locomotive was delivered. Ninian was also seen in the video along with George in a youtubers video about travelling in Snowdon Railway. Yeti Named Yeti by local school children following a competition. It was seen as a most suitable name for a mountain creature. Peris Named after the upper lake at Llanberis (Llyn Peris). According to the plate on the loco it was named after Saint Peris, a Christian missionary serving in the Llanberis area. George Named after George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy. Appeared in Snowdon's youtube channel's video "Traditional diesel service in Snowdonia" where he can be seen. Diesel Electric Railcars No.21,22,23. Diesel electric railcars were used until 2003,when they were withdrawn from the railway and was scrapped. Three appeared with no names probably from another railway. Coaches,Carriages,Trucks All passenger coaches were withdrawn from service at the end of the 2012 season. With the exception of Coach 10 (the latest built), their bodies were dismantled and the frames and bogies were stored off-site. The railway now operates two services, depending on the motive power: Steam Experience: A new body was built on the original frames and bogies of Coach 2 by Garmendale Engineering Ltd to resemble an original coach from 1895. Named the Snowdon Lily the coach entered service in 2013. This coach only carries 34 passengers and has a central aisle. It is used exclusively with one of the operational steam locomotives and attracts a higher fare. The steam service proved successful and a second heritage coach was built, using the frames and bogies of Coach 5. The Snowdon Mountain Goat arrived at the railway on 15 April 2015 and entered service following running in trials. Traditional Diesel Service: Garmendale Engineering Ltd was commissioned to build 4 brand new coaches for the 2013 season which are used exclusively with the diesel locomotives. These coaches can transport 74 passengers. Three of the coaches have so far been named: Sir David Brailsford CBE, Bryn Terfel CBE and Katherine Jenkins OBE. Accident on the opening day The Snowdon Mountain Railway was opened on 1896,April 6 on Monday. On the first return trip down the mountain, possibly due to the weight of the train, locomotive No. 1 Ladas with two carriages lost the rack and ran out of control. The locomotive derailed and fell down the mountain. A passenger died from loss of blood after jumping from the carriage. After a miscommunication the second downward train hit the carriages of the first, with no fatalities. An inquiry concluded that the accident had been triggered by post-construction settlement. L.A.D.A.S fell,and tumbled down 110 yards (100 metres) from the mountain. Because of the damage,he couldn't be mended. He was later scrapped and an engine never replaced her as number 1. Other It was revealed during the inquiry that the locomotive on a ballast train had lost the rack in January 1895 a little lower down the line. Details are not recorded, but it is likely that the locomotive dropped back onto the rack and was not badly damaged. After hearing all the evidence, it was decided that the weather had caused a freeze–thaw action which had led to settlement in the ground. Another contributory factor was the construction work being carried out during poor weather, and then not being checked for settlement when the weather had improved. The settlement was sufficient to twist the tracks and reduce the contact between the rack (on the track) and the pinion (on the locomotive). The weight and speed of the train did the rest. The damage caused by the first derailment made the second almost inevitable. It is believed that the first livery for the locomotives was dark-red. In these early years the carriages would have been open-bodied and were probably a dark brown in colour. During the 1950s and 1960s all the vehicles were upgraded. The carriages were converted to closed-body design and the locomotives had their wooden shutters and doors replaced with more weather-resistant metal ones. The livery at this point was changed to a more typical Welsh livery, the carriages being cream and crimson and the locomotives pea-green and red. Until 1998 the diesels were an overall mid-green colour. It was decided that the warning colour on the coupling section would be striped red and white; with the crank axles an overall red colour. The diesels' colouring was later changed: Yeti, for example, adopted a red livery, and George a purple one. The warning colours also changed several times until around 2004, when all the diesels again received a green livery, with yellow and black warning colours. Category:Landmarks